Canucks: Analyzing their 5-on-5 play so far this season

The Vancouver Canucks are leading the Pacific Division at the All-Star Break. But just how good are they? Let’s take a deep dive .

The Vancouver Canucks lead the Pacific Division heading into the All Star break, and it feels like it’s been forever since that last happened.

This team has had its ups and downs throughout the yea, but they’ve been competitive in every single game. Last year, they were just 25th in goals for and 20th in goals against.

Vancouver has scored 43 power play goals this year, second most in the NHL. But more importantly, have they improved at 5-on-5? And is the penalty kill more effective this year?

I will try to answer these questions in my next three articles. One about the power play, one about the penalty kill and this one on how they look at even strength.

With just over half the season played Vancouver has scored 111 even strength goals which surprisingly in only good for 20th in the league. I broke those 111 goals down into the months the Canucks have played this year, and found there was only one month (November) where they were were outscored 5-on-5.

Breaking it into months did not satisfy my craving of how well the team is doing, so I went through all the line combinations that the team has thrown out so far this year.

I laid out how effective each line and defensive pairing has been. This is what I found.

Shotgunning the Lotto Line

J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser has been one of the most effective lines for head coach Travis Green. They control the play for 58.81 percent of the shots when they are on the ice together, per Natural Stat Trick, and they’ve outscored their opponents 26 to 13 so far this season. The addition of Miller has been the x-factor our top line was missing.

Not only does he have the grit and forecheck this line needed, but his ability to start and finish plays have been amazing to watch. Miller is on track for career-highs in goals and assists. He also has been an absolute beast in the faceoff circle winning, winning 59.3 percent of them.

Recently, we have seen Jake Virtanen take over Boeser spot on the top line, and so far, so good. The small sample size we have of them playing together (62 minutes), and they’ve posted a remarkable 65.44 Corsi For percentage while outscoring teams 2-1. It is a lower scoring rate then with Boeser, but it should eventually balance out.

What makes Virtanen work so well with this line? The first thing that comes to mind is his speed. Virtanen forces the defence to back up when he enters the offensive zone, giving Pettersson more space to set up. He also uses it  to be the first one in on the forecheck.

Virtanen’s hockey sense is another reason why he fits in. His ability to read the plays and intercept pucks has been a real joy to watch, and Virtanen is starting to look like the power forward we were hoping for when he was drafted.

Bo Horvat has found at least one consistent linemate this year in Tanner Pearson. Since joining the team at the trade deadline last year, he has been lights out with the captain.

This is his first full season with the Canucks, and both Pearson and Horvat are set to put up their best numbers. The right wing of Horvat has seen a lot of different teammates, with the two most common being Josh Leivo and Loui Eriksson.

While both have positive number, Eriksson has been the best on the right side. They have a Corsi For percentage of 51.68 percent, and they’ve outscored their opponents 9-7. The impressive part about this line is they have only started in the offensive zone 36.89 percent of the time.

This line is not only effective offensively, but is often used to match up against the opposition’s best line, and that’s why Eriksson fits well here. He may never be that 20-plus goal scorer we were hoping for, but he is very reliable defensively and is finally scoring more.

Adam Gaudette

The Canucks have worked extensively group to build a capable top-nine group. This summer, they added two veteran forwards — Miller via trade and Micheal Ferland in free agency. Even though we haven’t seen much of Ferland because of his concussion issues, I do believe that he will fit nicely on the third line.

The regulars for this line are Virtanen, Adam Gaudette and Antoine Roussel. Virtanen and Gaudette are both having career years, and they could both finish with around 40 points. This line hasn’t had the advantage in controlling the play, with a Corsi For percentage of 46.34, but they’ve outscored opponents 6-5.

As previously mentioned, Boeser recently traded spots with Virtanen, and they’ve both made their new lines better. With Boeser on this line, they have recorded a 54.41 Corsi For percentage, but they’ve been outscored 3-2.

They have had an equal amount of scoring chances, but the line just hasn’t had the same puck luck. I like Boeser on this line, because he doesn’t have the same shooting mentality he has had in previous seasons, and he’sreally rounded out his game to be a 200-foot player.

Brandon Sutter down

The Canucks fourth line has one job, and that’s to shut down the opposition’s best line.

For a large part of the season, the shut down line has been Tyler Motte, Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller. This line has only has a 38.31 Corsi For percentage%, and they’ve been outscored 8-3. To be fair, this line only starts in the offensive zone 19.7 percent of the time.

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Having a fourth line centre like Beagle is great, since he brings some physicality, and like Miller, he wins a ton of faceoffs. Motte led the Canucks last year with 200 hits, but other than his physicality, he has a heavy wrist shot that we get to see from time to time.

Brandon Sutter replaced Schaller on the line after coming back from injury, but they’ve only played 30:16 together. It’s difficult at this point to say if there’s been an improvement or not. There are a few things I like more about Sutter then Schaller.

For one, Sutter adds more speed to this line, and he has the ability to score double-digit goals. He’s more defensively sound than Schaller, too. It would be great to see this line click more, and hopefully they’ll get more puck luck.

Bonus lines

While the line of Peason-Horvat-Eriksson has been effective,  there was two wingers that had some great chemistry with Horvat for the little time they got to play together.

Those wingers were Leivo and Virtanen.

Though Leivo is sidelined for most of the remainder of the season, it would be interesting to see if this line can reconnect before going into the playoffs. This line has only played 19:43 together, but during that time, they racked up a 71.43 Corsi For percentage, they’ve outscored opponents 2-0.

I understand that it would be crazy to think they could keep that pace up long-term, but even if it Their CF% fell down to around 53 percent, it would still be good enough.

Now, let’s take a look at the defence.

Benn there, done that

In the offseason, the Canucks really wanted to improve the blue line, so they went out and signed three UFAs inMyers, Jordie Benn and Oscar Fantenberg.

For most of this season, Fantenberg was a serviceable No. 7 defencemen. But when injuries on the back end started to happen, and he had a chance to play, Fantenberg made it count and has taken Benn’s spot.

Thee person who has played the most with Fantenberg is Myers. The bad news is that this pairing wasn’t working out well, which is fine because Myers has good chemistry with the other two left defencemen.

Now, both Tanev and Stecher have played with Fantenberg for roughly the same amount of time but because of how well Stecher plays with Edler. I would say Tanev makes the most sense to play with Fantenberg.

While paired up together, the puck possession numbers haven’t been pretty, but the Canucks have outscored opponents 2-1. It’s worth mentioning that they have only started in the offensive zone 16.67% of the time, too.

I do think that this could be a good pairing for the Canucks, because like Tanev, Fantenberg isn’t afraid to block shots. Through 21 games, he’s already blocked 33 and the 21 games. Another part of his game I really like is his physicality and toughness. It will be fun to see how this pairing develops once they get more time together.

These line combinations and defensive pairings have been a big improvement compared to last year, and it’s great to see that the Canucks are carrying the play for the most part. Hopefully, the rest of the season will be just as fun, and hopefully we’ll see this team reach the postseason.